Born in 1891, Arthur B. "Perk" Perkins came to Newhall in 1919 to manage the
fledgling Newhall Water Company, the forerunner of the Newhall County Water District. He
became a civic leader, served as justice of the peace (the local judge) in the 1920s, organized Newhall's first Fourth of July Parades, sold real estate and built
many homes in the growing community. Upon retirement, Perkins made it his mission to assemble all the historical documents
and photographs of the Santa Clarita Valley he could find.

Perkins published a manuscript on the history of the Santa Clarita Valley in 1957. In 1962 he
wrote a series of articles for The Signal newspaper, appropriately titled "Story of our Valley."
He was consulted on local historical matters until his death in 1977.

It is quite literally the case that without A.B. Perkins, much of the history of the Santa Clarita Valley would have
scattered to the winds. Had it not been for A.B. Perkins, this Website would be very sparse indeed.